Identifying Identity
by Pixie Child
Summary: Laura has questions and believes Victor can answer them.  -gen.implied pre-femslash-
1. Ineffective Mating

**Characters**: Anole, X-23, Wolverine  
**Timeline**: post New X-Men (II) - #43  
**A/N**: I hate biology. And I have no idea how the male reproduction drive really works, so I tried to stay as general as possible.  
**A/N2**: Credit dorksidefiker for Anole's last line.  
**Feedback**: is a must!  
**Disclaimer**: Not mine. I play with other people's toys.  
**First Posted**: July 06, 2010

* * *

Playing with a yo-yo wasn't nearly the same as playing Frisbee. Victor looked mournfully out the window at the gorgeous day outside. He missed being able to play Frisbee out on the Institute's giant lawn without having to worry about Sentinels, Purifiers, Illyana Rasputin and every other thing out there what wanted to use them or just wanted them dead. Idly, he scratched at his new arm. He couldn't believe Santo had tried to get him to cut his other arm off. Like he would _want_ to look any more deformed then he already did.

Victor sighed when a narrow shadow fell past him. "Megan, no offence, but I just want to be alone right now."

"Pixie is training with Wolverine."

"Oh." Cautiously, Victor turned, positioning his body so that his good arm wasn't within reach of X-23. Logically, he knew if she was going to try to cut it off without his permission that wouldn't stop her, but it made him feel a little better anyway. "Okay." He waited for her to say something, but she just watched him oddly, like she was trying to figure something out. "Um... can I help you?"

"You are a homosexual."

Anole put his hands over his face and groaned. He didn't even need to ask. "I'm going to kill Santo." He lowered his arms to find her still watching him. He sighed and turned so he was actually facing her. "So?"

"I don't understand."

Victor blinked. He waited for X-23, _Laura_, to continue, but she didn't. "What's to understand?"

"Homosexuality. Having sexual relations with a member of the same gender as you. How does it work?"

He coughed. "Uh... Look, Laura, I'm not really comfortable..." The lizard-like mutant could feel his face burning with embarrassment. "What I mean is..."

"I am not asking for you to explain your sexual acts. But I wish for you to explain the concept to me. Homosexual copulation is unproductive."

Trying to get around his awkwardness, he managed to ask, "What?"

"The sexual drive is a genetic instinct meant to produce offspring. Such acts between two members of the same sex are unproductive because it will not result in breeding."

"Yeah, well... it's not really something you can control."

"Explain what you mean. Are people not responsible for their actions?" Victor felt his shoulders relax when he realized that she wasn't there to ridicule him or ask embarrassing personal questions. She was just curious. He could do this.

"Yes, people are responsible for their actions. But being gay... _homosexual_ isn't about your actions. It's about how you feel inside, you know?" From the blank look Laura gave him, he realized she really didn't. "I knew I was gay for years before I ever, ah, copulated with anyone. It's like, looking at someone and feeling a rush of heat because they just look so _good_." Laura nodded although Anole wasn't sure if she understood or was just showing she was listening. "But it's not just about sex. It's also about the individual person." He hesitated, then asked the question that could either help his fumbled explanation or get him skewered. "Have you ever loved someone? Not in a romantic way, but like a sibling or a parent?"

"Yes. My mother."

"Well, it's got all those feelings attached as well. You know, caring so much about them that you would die to protect them? Enjoying their company, even when it's not for anything in particular. All of it." Victor paused, trying to collect his thoughts. "I don't know why it works like that, or why some people are gay when it's not... productive for reproduction." He shrugged. "I just know how I feel."

"Does being a homosexual mean you have no desire to breed?" Laura asked bluntly.

"Uh... No? I mean, it depends on the person. Mr. Beaubier, Northstar, doesn't even like being in the same room as kids if he can help it. But I think I'll want to have a family some day." He grinned shyly at the girl. "I even have names picked out."

"How?"

"I don't understand. How what?"

"If you are only attracted to males, how would you have a child?"

"Oh. Adoption, usually. The government doesn't really like giving kids to gay couples, but there are so many of them. And being a mutant sort of helps, because a lot of 'normal' families don't want to adopt mutant children. And since Hope, we know that more mutants will eventually be born." Laura nodded again, and then cocked her head to the side. Much to Anole's surprise, she almost looked shy. "Laura?"

"How did you know you were gay?"

He blinked, not having expected the question. "I just did. I always liked looking at other boys and girls had cooties a lot longer than they should have."

"...cooties?"

Victor grinned. "It's something kids say about the opposite gender when they're little, before they discover hormones. It's like a pretend disease. I meant that I never really understood why my friends were suddenly interested in watching the girls." He watched Laura shift from one foot to the other. "Laura, have you ever been attracted to anyone?"

"I..." She gazed at him helplessly, looking more _human_ then he had ever seen her. "...don't know."

"Oh."

"What does it feel like?"

He felt himself blushing again, but didn't even consider not answering her question. "Um, it's kind of hard to explain. It's wanting to be close to someone, wanting to touch them. I don't k-know..." He stammered, then took a deep breath. "I don't know if it's different for girls, but guys get... warm inside. It's pretty hard to ignore sometimes. And if it's a crush on a friend, it can be really hard on the friendship. The dreams are the worst."

"Dreams?"

"Yeah. You can usually make yourself just act normal, but if you dream about someone like _that_ then it's usually all you can think about the next time you see them." At some point, Laura had stopped looking at him and seemed to be focused on something out the window, but he knew she was still listening so he kept going. "And, as a rule, if you have that sort of dream about a friend, you're into them. Not always, but usually." He cleared his throat and tried to get his blush under control. "I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. I've never had to analyze it before."

"No. Thank you." Laura looked at him and nodded her head once. "You were... informative." She turned sharply and left as quietly as she'd entered. Victor turned to look out the window again, a little bewildered by the conversation he'd just had.

"Girls are weird."

.-..*.

She found him in the staff dining room, sitting in the dark and chewing on an unlit cigar. She stopped just inside the room, blocking the doorway. She was uncomfortable, but felt a need to tell this to him for some inexplicable reason.

"I have come to a... personal discovery."

Logan didn't even look up when Laura spoke, just grunted and kept reading his paper.

"I believe I am a homosexual."

"No shit, kid." Laura inclined her head, questioning. "You're my clone, after all." She took that in, none of her emotions on her face, but stayed where she was. After a while, he looked up at her. "Something else you wanted?"

"No."

With that, she turned and left.


	2. Impractical ReArrangements

**Characters**: Logan (Wolverine), Emma Frost (the White Queen) - **Pairing**: Laura Kinney (X-23) pre-slash  
**Timeline**: A few weeks after _Ineffective Mating_, which for this to work means that IM happened right before the school closed and this takes place right after the move to San Francisco, with no intermedium. And X-Force never happened. Also, they got their new holographic training tech sooner. Slight AU all over the place.  
**Feedback**: is a must!  
**Disclaimer**: Not mine. I play with other people's toys.  
**First Posted**: September 25, 2010

* * *

_*Logan. I need to speak to you.*_ Frost's voice came as cool as ever when she interrupted Wolverine's training.

"Little busy right now." He grunted out, narrowly missing the robot's swing.

_*Now. It concerns your little rehabilitation project.*_

"Frost-" That time, the White Queen's telepathy provided enough of a distraction that simulation Sentinel was able to grab him in its massive hand. He thought about ignoring Frost, but quickly decided if it had to do with Laura, it was probably important. "Prodigy!" he hollered, "End simulation." Abruptly, the program ended and he hit the ground with a less then graceful thud. "Thanks for the warning."

In the walk from the new Danger Room to Frost's office, he tried to figure out what Laura'd done now. The last time he'd seen her was nearly two weeks ago when she'd made her little confession, and while he hadn't tried to seek her out, he'd gotten the impression she was avoiding him.

When he reached the headmistresses' office, Logan didn't bother to knock, just pushed the door open unceremoniously and let it bang loudly against the wall. Emma looked up, her lips pursed tightly together.

"What'd'ya want, Frost?"

"It's about your clone."

"Yeah, figured that." He shot back. "She has a name, you know."

"Hmm, yes." She closed the folder in front of her. "Please, Logan, pretend to be civilized and take a seat." He eyed the chair across from the desk. It was a regular chair, matching the ones in the dining hall, not at all like the regal throne-like one she sat in. After a moment of consideration, he sauntered over and threw himself down. "Thank you."

"Well?"

"X-23 has requested a room reassignment."

"And?" He asked gruffly. "Room assignments are your job. Or Cyke's. Not mine. Why're you telling me?" Logan scratched the back of his head. "Who's she bunking with, anyhow?" Frost rolled her eyes.

"Like you don't know. Ignorance, feigned or not, is rather unbecoming, Logan."

"If you just called me in here to play games, Frost-"

"Hmm. You really don't know." The White Queen's eyes widened slightly and Wolverine grinned. Catching her by surprise was always gratifying, even unintentionally. "It must be Scott's odd sense of humour, putting your pets all in the same room."

"Huh?" He grunted, sick of the woman's mind games and her round-about way of explaining why she'd his attention ASAP.

"To answer your question, X-23 is sharing a room with Hisako and Megan. And this morning, she came to me and asked to be reassigned. Very politely, too. Clearly something she learned from you."

"Did she give you a reason?"

"She said it was _personal_." Emma stressed the word. "And since X-23 is the _last_ person I would expect to have 'personal' problems, I must admit, it caught me by surprise. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

"No."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Dunno."

"Well, please, speak to her about it." She said primly. "With any teenagers, finding roommates that don't clash is hard enough, and our little group has unstable superpowers to add extra trouble. I would rather not have to rearrange the entire girls' dorm."

"Speak to her about what? Playing nice with the other girls?"

"Yes, if that's what it takes."

"Yeah..." When he thought about it, Laura _had_ been unusually tolerant with Girly-Girl's annoying habits. Up until now, anyhow.

"To be fair, your clone does have two of the more challenging roommates and she seemed to be handling it well." Wolverine snorted. X had threatened to dismember Hisako two times that he _knew_ of and had the uptight girl too scared to complain. Yet she didn't seem to have a problem with Megan.

"Yeah." He said again and stood up. "I'll think about it. Can I go now?"

Emma sighed but nodded. "Yes, Logan."

_*Megan.*_ He allowed himself to think once he was sure he was far enough away that Frost wouldn't read his mind if she hadn't already. _*It was Megan Gwynn?*_

Well, that made things more complicated. He could do the protective parental figure bit, but between the two, he wasn't sure who it should be _for_.


End file.
